Aerobic exercise may be defined as rapid repetitive movement of major body portions, particularly the arms and legs, so as to produce a rapid heartbeat and an increased rate of respiration. In general, aerobic exercise beneficial to the cardiovascular system requires that the rapid heartbeat and increased respiratory rate be maintained for relatively extended periods of time, generally at least twenty minutes up to an hour or more.
It will be noted that there are many recognized methods of obtaining aerobic exercise, such as running, swimming, bicycling, rapid calisthenics and the like. However, while these methods are quite popular, there still remains a need for methods of obtaining aerobic exercise where the other methods are inconvenient or not available, such as, for example, where outdoor activities are limited because of weather, general surroundings such as city streets, the particular time of day, e.g. after nightfall, and the like. Other aerobic exercises, such as swimming or racquet sports, require pools or specialized court facilities which are oftentimes either crowded or unavailable.
Exercise devices attempting to provide appropriate solutions to the aforementioned problems have been proposed. The most common of these devices are treadmills, "rowing" machines and stationary bicycle-like devices. Treadmills have become a popular method of testing cardiac capabilities within a medical setting, but have not achieved great popularity as pure exercise devices, probably because the activity so resembles walking, jogging or running. Rowing machines are somewhat more popular, but are primarily designed and used to provide anaerobic exercise such as development of leg and upper body muscles rather than more pure aerobic exercise in which the object is to raise the cardiovascular rate to a relatively high level for a relatively long period of time regardless of the strengthening obtained by various muscle groups.
The stationary bicycle-like devices usually comprise a traditional bicycle seat, bicycle handlebars, a bicycle frame and pedals located in the same relationship to the seat and the handlebars as pedals would be on an actual bicycle. Such bicycle-like devices do provide desirable aerobic exercise, but are not always suitable for the extended periods of exercise required to obtain the maximum benefits of aerobic exercise by most users. For example, some authorities recommend at least three periods of aerobic exercise per week, each extending for at least twenty minutes before cardiovascular improvement can be expected. Other authorities would consider such amounts relatively small and would recommend up to an hour a day for five or six days per week as a more desirable level of aerobic exercise. The narrow bicycle-type seat and the positioning of the handlebars, while necessary for the operation of an actual bicycle, are not particularly desirable for a device which is to remain stationary, and are unsuitable for extended periods of use.
With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device upon which strenuous aerobic exercise can be obtained for extended periods of time while providing a much higher degree of comfort than has previously been the case.